


Another Night to Follow.

by ZiggyWilderness



Category: Night at the Museum (Movies)
Genre: Light Angst, M/M, Pining, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-12 23:27:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28768569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZiggyWilderness/pseuds/ZiggyWilderness
Summary: Jedediah and Octavius are sorting out what they mean to each other after years of pointless fighting. Their circumstances make things tricky. (Set following the end of the first movie.)
Relationships: Jedediah/Octavius (Night at the Museum)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 49





	1. New Routine

**Author's Note:**

> Tbh this exists because I just rewatched NATM and high key loved it?? And then I noticed that I was typing so... Exactly 0 research has gone into this. Ok, that's a lie. I looked up how to spell Ahkmenrah. Forgive me.

The museum was as lively as ever tonight. Not quite the party it had been when Ahkmenrah was released, but certainly still busy. Every manner of creature and historical figure made the grounds into their own personal domain, and there was always something happening. Among the hubbub, whipping along tight corners, past ankles and paws, was a small RC car. From within, if one got close enough, could be heard the whooping and hollering of a flamboyant cowboy and the stoic Roman general he rode with. Since they declared a truce, the two seemed to cause even more trouble than before. Combining their forces in what seemed to be a monumental effort to always be underfoot. Larry thought they were a pain in the ass, but it was nice to see them getting along. It was also nice that they weren't trying to ram trains into his head or light him on fire, so he mostly let them be. 

The two careened through the halls most of the night, only coming to a stop after having lapped the place several times. From where they had parked, they looked out over the African Wildlife Exhibit, grassy plains stretching out for what seemed like miles to them. Jedidiah whistled in awe, seeing the large cats stalking their prey. A nightly ritual they never seemed to consummate. 

Octavius Knew something about that. For decades he and Jedediah had fought without end, neither side ever any closer to victory. Only recently had that changed. While it breathed new life into their nights, it quickly became a routine of its own. It seemed to him that the museum served its purpose well. Preservation. As every night passed though, he found himself less satisfied with the status quo. Also more terrified to lose it. 

Fear rarely held him back, he was a general in the Roman army for the Gods' sake! But with Jedidiah, it felt different. He wasn't risking life or limb, but heartache. A lifetime's worth. And who knew how long that could be? Should things work in his favor, it would be worth it. However great the cost. If there was anything that he had learned in battle, it was that there was a time to hang back, and a time to take risks. Now felt like the latter. So he would do what he'd always done. Soldier on and try. 

"Jedediah-"

"How many times, Ockie? Just Jed."

"Jed..." The cowboy's pet names always made his heart flutter. They felt so intimate, though he knew it was only part of his brash, informal manner of speaking. "I have enjoyed the time that we've spent together since we ended our war."

"Aw, me too, Partner." Jedediah flashed him a big, charismatic grin. 

Octavius flushed slightly. In his day they hadn't been so cavalier with terms like that. "Good. I'm glad to hear it." Jed had gone back to staring out across the Savannah, leaning over the steering wheel, chin resting on his hands. He'd spent a lot of time thinking the young gunslinger was impulsive and immature but in moments like these, he saw how thoughtful and serene he could be. Within only the few dozen nights or so they'd had together since the tablet was restored, Octavius had realized his cocky demeanor was mostly a front. A front he let go when they were alone. 

When it was just the two of them, Jedediah often had the air of a poet. Octavius wondered constantly what was going on inside his head when he had that far off look in his eyes. 

"As much fun as I've had with your new electric chariot, I think it might serve us well to broaden our horizons. Perhaps... something quieter?" Jedediah looked at him, a placid expression softening his harsh features. Octavius searched his face for any sign of reaction or understanding. 

They both stayed quiet for a moment, Octavius held his breath, not realizing until Jed spoke and he released it. "That could be nice. I think I know just the thing. Tomorrow night. I'll bring you home for now, sun's almost up."

How tragic that going home meant separation, Octavius thought. He should like to have Jedidiah and home at once. 

Jed stowed the car and walked with Octavius back to their dioramas, wishing him a good night in the center. Well, day. Things were complicated when you were a little plastic figure animated by ancient Egyptian magic. Though, watching the cowboy walk away, he imagined some things would be complicated no matter what. 

Octavius climbed back into position, wondering what Jedediah had planned for them. At least he wouldn't have to worry about trying to fall asleep. Thank the Gods for small mercies.


	2. Fit for Kings.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jedediah surprises Octavius with a thoughtful night out.

Octavius awoke already itching to see Jedediah and wasted no time leaving his diorama. If he was fast, he could usually slip out in the start of night chaos without anyone stopping him. Heading an army, even in peace times, came with responsibilities. Ones he wasn't typically _so_ eager to shirk, but tonight was special. Tonight, he had no idea what to expect. Something you couldn't often say in the museum.

Making his way quickly to the floor space below their respective homes, he nearly tripped and was breathless by the time he got there. He felt a bit silly when he saw the cowboy casually sauntering over like he always did.

"Good day, Jedid-" He was cautioned by a set of unruly, raised eyebrows. "Jed."

Jed laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "You're never gonna get that time thing straight, huh?" Before Octavius could think of anything to say back, he was being steered by the same shoulder towards where the car was parked. "Come one, you're gonna love this."

"What exactly is it that you have planned?"

"It's a surprise." Jedediah shot him a wink. "One quick stop though."

As nice and exciting as the sense of mystery was, _it was also killing him._ He stayed quiet, knowing he'd find out soon enough.

Their quick stop turned out to be the front desk, where Larry was waiting. Jed told him to wait in the car while he picked something up. Octavius wanted very badly to see what he was doing, but the car didn't actually have any functional mirrors (something that had caused them problems in the past) so all he could do, short of turning completely around to look, was wait patiently. It was agonizing. He and Larry were too far away to hear properly and seemed to be making an effort not to be heard anyway, but Octavius could just make out Larry saying, "Good luck." Now he was starting to get worried.

Jedediah loaded something heavy and large (by their standards) into the back. "Alright," He breathed, returning to his place in the driver's seat. "Let's be on our way." Octavius didn't bother asking about it, figuring his answer would be an echo of the one he'd gotten earlier. 

At least having the entire museum memorized by now would give him an idea of where they were going, right? Wrong. Jedediah seemed to have thought of this and spent 30 minutes turning random corners, pulling sudden U-turns, and thoroughly confusing him. Octavius was having a hard time keeping track of where they were, never mind trying to figure out where they were headed.

"You're really committed to this being a surprise."

Jed laughed. "Mhm."

When he finally stopped trying to throw him off and actually started toward their destination, he could see why Jed had wanted to save it. He'd taken them to the Ocean Life exhibit and managed to maneuver the car into a spot Octavius had never been. It was high up and overlooked the whole thing, but was startlingly close to the animals. They could feel the coolness radiating off of the water on their skin.

"Wow..." Octavius was almost whispering as they got out of the car. The exhibit was mostly closed off from the rest of the museum to create a striking visual and acoustic effect. All around them the soft chatter and hum of sea life echoed, and rhythmic lights pulsed as they replicated the look of sunlight filtering through water on the floor and walls.

Jed was grinning. "I thought this might be more your speed."

"How did you know how to get up here?"

"I come up here sometimes. When you're busy, mostly. It's a good place to be alone."

Octavius swallowed. "Yes, I imagine it is." He was still processing everything when Jedediah remembered the secret cargo in the backseat. When he made his way back to Octavius his arms were overloaded with something lumpy and white. It was a napkin. Which he put down and spread out, revealing its contents. A saltine cracker and a baby bell cheese. Beneath them, the napkin formed a soft, inviting picnic blanket.

"One more thing!" Octavius was reeling. What more could there possibly be?

It was a small plastic blister pack of communion wine. In Jedediah's arms, it looked more like a barrel of wine, but one had to make do.

"Oh, Jed. This is too much."

"Well, yeah. I don't expect we'll eat it all, but portion control's a bit tough, you know?"

That wasn't at all what he'd meant, but it was fine. It wasn't like he'd get Jedediah to admit to over doing anything, anyway. Instead, he laughed at the way the cowboy was shifting from one leather booted foot to the other. "Well, uh... Siddown. You're makin' me nervous." Jed took his own advice, sitting on the napkin and placing his hat down beside him. Octavius removed his helmet and joined him, sitting across from him on the plush square.

"You said you wanted something quiet, so you know... I figured we'd make a night of it. At least you'd get some food out of it, even if I did bore you to tears." He was running his hands through his shaggy blonde hair as he said it, not looking at the other man.

"You're not boring."

"Hm?" Jed seemed surprised.

"I like spending time with you. I find you very... interesting, actually."

The cowboy laughed, though it came out a little strangled. "Well, that's good, cuz tonight you got nothin' but me. And this cheese."

They broke off bits of cracker, Jed used one of his knives, which were more functional than his guns, to cut slices out of the cheese and open the wine. He hadn't really thought about how they were actually going to drink it, so their inelegant, but effective, solution was to just pass the whole thing back and forth. They made a bit of a mess, saltine crumbs everywhere and the occasional splosh of wine, but it would hardly be noticeable to anyone who wasn't 6 inches tall.

It didn't take long for small talk to fizzle out. There's only so much to talk about when you've lived your entire life in one building and have spent most of it around the same few people. So they sat in comfortable silence, taking in the view. Jed was, anyway. Octavius was looking at him.

A now familiar dreaminess overtook his blue eyes as he watched the museum's soft lighting sparkle across a simulated sea. Octavius was tired of wondering. He craved the intimacy of knowing everything he could about this man. Everything no one else did. "What are you thinking about?" He prodded softly.

"Hm? Oh... just. It's beautiful. Makes me wonder what the actual ocean looks like. I guess even the real deal never saw it. Always stuck in the desert. Sometimes it felt like water was rare 'n gold." He laughed, light creases forming around his eyes. But there was a weariness there, too. A deep fatigue that Octavius recognized like he was looking in a mirror. He wanted to see the cowboy find some respite from it, as much as he wanted to find his own. Find some place to rest. Octavius wanted to be that place for him.

"I saw it. At least, I have the real Octavius' memories of it. It is beautiful. So vast it's hard to imagine. It's terrifying, but holds so much hope in it too. Promise of freedom. Adventure."

They talked like that for hours. Sharing their memories, unsure what was even true, if any of it. It didn't seem to matter if they were true, though. If they really were the recollections of long dead historical figures, or just part of the magic that made them feel real. Either way, they felt like memories to them, like they'd been there. Somehow, they'd never thought to share these things before. Not just with each other, but at all. Everyone here was some famous something or other, everyone had a story, and they mostly didn't get told. Just about all of them were too preoccupied with themselves or reliving some part of it to sit around trading tales that didn't technically belong to them. But it was as good a thing to talk about as any. Especially with their actual experiences of the world being so narrow. As big as these halls were to them, they were still finite.

So together they expanded their understanding of the universe, each filling in the blanks for the other where they could. They didn't tell each other everything, of course. That couldn't be done in a night if they tried. Octavius liked the idea of it. Slowly piecing together two disparate worlds. Mostly he liked the idea of knowing every detail of Jedediah's life. What made him who he was, the time and place that had shaped him. The sorts of things he had done there. Desperate as he was to form a complete picture, he hoped it took years.

Larry's voice crackled over the P.A. system. "Places, people. Places! Sunup in 10 minutes, I don't want any dusters this morning!"

"We should get going."

"Yes, I suppose we should. This has been wonderful, Jed."

"Yeah. Would you um... maybe want to do something like this again tomorrow?"

"I'd love to."

Jed's face split into a big, crooked grin. "Good. I'll get it all worked out, don't worry about nothin' Ock."

Neither could stop themselves smiling on the way back.

They parted, as always, in the same place on the marble floors. And as always, the same familiar heart ache chased Octavius. The way it did whenever he remembered that they belonged in separate places. At least he always had tomorrow to look forward to.


	3. A Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jedediah is intent on another surprise, though this one seems to involve other people?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A small interim chapter. I hc that they've sort of made their own hidden spaces out of their displays using a mix of props and found objects. It makes sense to me, given how long they've been there.

Climbing down from his home at the start of the night turned out to be a wasted effort when he met up with Jedediah, who immediately started walking back toward it, talking as he went.

"Okay, first we're gonna head back up to Rome."

Octavius raised his eyebrows. He wasn't aware of anything at home that could have been interesting enough to Jedediah to spend a whole night on it. "What's in Rome?"

"That's up to you. You need to bring a gift."

"Oh, um... What would you like?"

"Not for me. For our host."

_Host?_ Somehow Jedediah was confounding him even more than he had last night. "What would our _host_ like?"

"I have no idea," came the cheeky reply, accompanied by a grin and a tip of the hat.

They made their way back to the city and Octavius led the way to his own quarters, though the cowboy walked with such confidence that it still felt like he was leading no matter where he was. He realized Jedediah had never actually seen his rooms. Of course he hadn't, they'd only recently been on even remotely friendly terms. He didn't see them much himself, their lifestyle didn't exactly allow for it. They didn't even sleep in beds. He could hardly remember what was in them, and just hoped they hadn't been left a mess.

By the time they reached his door, Jedediah was nearly crying with laughter. They'd been stopped almost a dozen times on the short walk by lost soldiers looking for orders. With every random command he gave, Jed seemed to have a harder time holding himself together. _"Go pick pears."_ He wheezed. "Is that what the Roman army does?"

"Well," Octavius answered, a mix of irritation and embarrassment coloring his voice, "there aren't any wars for them to be fighting _now,_ are there?"

Jed bit back more laughter. "Sorry? We could start another one, if you want. What are you doing next week?"

"You know what I'm doing next week." He said under his breath. They barely even kept track of time in weeks, so similar were their nights. He couldn't help but smile back though. Imagine, starting a war just to keep busy. Who ever would do such a thing?

Pushing open the door, he heard a small whistle behind him.

The worry he'd felt before sharpened and suddenly he was very aware of the situation. His rooms were small and somewhat cramped. Not uncomfortable, but painfully practical. Little more than what he needed, or would have needed if he were alive for more than 8 or 10 hours a day. Looking at them now, another person there with him, he noticed for the first time how empty they seemed.

He wouldn't have been afforded glamorous accommodation anyway, a General who spent most of his time away, but the confines of their miniature imitation of Rome certainly didn't help. His rooms, -and even that was misleading, it was more like one room with an adjoining storage closet- were in a word, humble. He'd never had any need to be concerned about that before, but he feared now what Jedediah would think. Mercifully, they were at least tidy.

"Well, uhm." He said, clearing his throat and gesturing broadly. "It's not much, but please, make yourself comfortable."

"Not much? Ha!" Jedediah exclaimed, flopping himself gracelessly onto Octavius' bed, sinking into the plush down. "I sleep in a tent, Ockie. Well, I would. You know what I mean."

"Oh..." The real Octavius had been no stranger to tents himself, and the memories of cold, unpleasant nights hit him like he'd been there. "Well, if you like, you can rest here whenever. I hardly spend any time here, myself."

"Thanks, man. I might take you up on that. You felt this bed?"

He had, in fact, felt this bed, and was trying not to think about how much he enjoyed the sight of a cowboy in it. "Mhm." He mumbled, turning away to look for something to bring along with them.

"Are you sure you don't know what this person would like? Any help at all?" He didn't bother asking any more than that. It there was anything Jedediah had proven to him, it was that he liked surprises, and wasn't about to give it away. Even if it didn't help him choose a 'gift.'

"Something shiny, I guess." Without even looking, Octavius could feel the nonchalant shrug he was making. _Unhelpful._

Not knowing who their ‘host’ was, let alone what they would like, he was mostly trying to unconsciously impress Jedediah. Inspecting shelves and table tops he passed blown glass vessels, a few small ivory carvings -none of which were terribly well done- and some silver and bronze utensils. He didn’t have much in the way of decoration, most of his more expensive possessions belonged to his armory.

His armory. There was probably something in there that fit the happy middle ground of something he could part with, without being obviously worthless. Armory, like ‘rooms,’ was misleading. That’s what he used the storage closet for. A number of weapons and armor he’d received as gifts or served as replacement should his own ever break. It was a modest collection, but there were certainly some valuable pieces in there, if they weren’t 1:16 scale they’d be impressive in the real world too. A glint from a dusty corner caught his eye and he landed on an intricately cast shield. It was polished to an almost mirror finish and bore the relief of a battle scene. Not the sort of thing he’d ever actually use, but pretty. It was probably meant to be hung on a wall. He held it up to Jedediah.

“What about this?”

“Works for me,” He answered with a crooked, casual smile. “Now let’s get goin’ or we’ll be late.”

_Late?_ What was there, other than sunrise, to be late for around the museum?


End file.
